Sunday, October 11, 2009

It's been a long while since the movie A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) was released (2001). It was a tag team project between directors Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick (who failed to see completion of the movie; he passed away in 1999). It was based on the short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long by award-winning science-fiction writer Brian Aldiss.

The way a short story was made into a full length feature film is amazing enough, but what's more amazing is how Teddy, the robotic teddy bear in the story was made real using motion-capture technology and other mechanical special effects wizardry by the Stan Winston Studios.

Teddy, the "mecha" robot toy bear voiced by Jack Angel, is really smarter elbeit unemotional compared to David, the robot boy, in the movie. He served as David's "Jiminy Cricket" sidekick in the movie. Cute, cuddly, and animated, it was a toy that movie-goers sought to have. The problem was that the commercial toy based on the character was difficult to find and even years after the movie, people have been looking for that robot bear toy. Fact is that a toy based on the A.I. bear was created but it wasn't released in the U.S. and was limited.

The toy "A.I. Teddy" bear is now a collector's item. It was made by Tiger/Hasbro Electronics (where Furbies came from) and can be found in the this link: Rare electronic toy based on A.I. movie Teddy bear. It's not exactly an exact duplicate of the movie Teddy with its lighter-colored fur and less defined facial contours (like the flame-shaped tuft on the forehead), but it does talk with a similar electronic voice. The toy did not target young children due to the adult nature of the film, but it is now a movie collector's dream.